13 | Protective Tendencies
I sit at the library table, engrossed in the work I'm doing when a body plops into the seat beside me. I lift my head to smile at Asher, but the smile almost drops, when I see the face staring back at me.
Charlotte grins ear to ear as she slides into the seat, her face glowing.
"Charlie." I exclaim in surprise, glancing around the library quickly before settling back on her. "What are you doing here?"
"Can a girl not sit next to her best friend?"
I laugh, shaking my head. "You scared me, is all." I look around the library again, my eyes catching onto the body of the person who was meant to be sitting next to me.
I guess this is what happens when you plan study dates - that aren't dates, mind you - at the university library.
Asher shakes his head subtly, flashing me a signature grin before disappearing between the stacks of books, his head held high like nothing's wrong.
Everything wrong, I'm here talking to his sister like nothing is when in reality I was meant to be meeting up with her brother for a secret rendezvous, or study session. But still, I'm lying to my best friend about her brother. I'm the worst kind of friend.
"Ask me why I'm smiling?" Charlie interrupts my carousel of thoughts, almost bouncing in her seat.
"Why are you smiling?" I'm grinning as I ask the question, relaxing into my seat.
"Because a hot as hell surfer dude just waltzed his way up to me and asked my name."
"He asked you on a date?" I prod, leaning forward.
"No!" She says excitedly.
I blink, leaning back, "Then, why are you so excited?"
"He asked me for your name and your number."
Just then another body slips into the seat beside Charlotte, and I straighten up, widening my eyes at Ashers grin and wink he sends my way before Charlie turns over her shoulder to look at him.
"What the heck are you doing here?"
"Thought I'd peruse the library for a book for an assignment and who do I find gossiping away other than my dear sister and her friend. Hi, Ivy." His eyes settle on my over Charlies shoulder, his eyes pinning me straight to my seat and causing a flutter of nerves to take flight in my stomach.
He grins, like he knows exactly what effect he has on me, his tongue coming out to wet his bottom lip and my eyes zero in on it, a flush taking over my cheeks as I remember exactly where his mouth was last time I saw him.
I clear my throat, "Hi."
"What are we talking about?" He leans forward on the table, elbows bent under him and fingers steepled together like he has all the time in the world to hear every sordid detail Charlotte and I might ever discuss.
I narrow my eyes at his grin and so does Charlotte before she gets a matching one on her face. "I was just telling Ivy here that there's a guy who asked for her number, wants to take her on a date, isn't that sweet? To have the confidence to ask a complete stranger?"
Ashers grin drops a bit. "Seems a bit weird if you ask me, he doesn't even know her."
"Are you saying that if he did, he wouldn't be asking her out?" Charlie challenges and my heart drops.
Ashers eyes widen. "No, I'm not saying that." He pins his siter with a look before looking at me, "He also approached you to approach Ivy, he didn't come to her himself. Seems pretty immature."
"Maybe he was intimidated, Ivy is gorgeous."
Charlie turns back to me, grinning widely. "He's still here if you want to say yes, which i so think you should."
"Charlie," I whisper, and she widens her eyes.
"Oh, wait, you kind of have a thing-" She cuts off and looks to Asher, "Do you mind?"
"No, continue on." He leans back in his chair, arms crossed loosely in front of him, balancing on the cheap plastic. "Don't have to stop on my account." His eyes move to me, a twinkle in them. "Besides you know Leon won't like you going on a date with a stranger." He shrugs.
I narrow my eyes, "Oh, I'm sure he'd like me to go out with one of his hockey mates instead, maybe Justin?"
"No." Asher grunts and sits still on the chair. "What does this fucking idiot look like anyway, if she's going to go on a date with him, he has to pass."
"Who are you, her brother?" Charlie quips, raising a brow at him. "Your . . . protectiveness is showing Asher."
His jaw clenches, "Leon is my best mate, Ivy is his sister. It's natural for me to be-"
"Brotherly?" Charlie cuts him off.
"Ivy is also your best friend, so sue me if I want to protect her like I would protect you."
"Cause I'm your sister?"
"Are you done?" Asher grunts, glaring at Charlie. "Now, where the fuck is he?"
Charlie rolls her eyes back while I keep my mouth zipped, knowing better then to get between a squabble with them.
"I'm not pointing him out to you." She focuses back on me and Asher rolls his eyes at her back, before they come to rest on me and he smirks again, leaning back and balancing on the chair like he didn't just have a little fight with his sister and stares around the library again, looking disinterested as Charlie describes this guy.
"He had blonde hair, and it was artfully styled like he'd just come out of the ocean, but he smelt like cedarwood - you know how much I like cedarwood and he wore a navy button up and dark jeans.
He had the most piercing blue eyes ever - you know like Ian Somerhalder and his face was carved by angels. "
Asher's chair crashes back to the ground, his grunt accompanying it and Charlie pauses, looking back at him.
Ashers eyes are dark, and he looks over my shoulder as Charlie finishes describing this dream worthy guy, eyes narrowing before he gets up, gives me one more look and says a mumbled goodbye. I refrain from watching him leave, focusing on Charlie, my cheeks heated.
"You do not have a crush on my brother? do you?" Charlie asks curiously and I shake my head vehemently, wanting to cover my cheeks but I refrain.
"No." I blink, "Like he said, he's practically like a brother."
Charlie's nose turns up a bit and she makes a face like the thought fills her with disgust, but she shakes her head. "He didn't-" Charlie cuts herself off on a sigh. "Why are you blushing then?"
"Because you said someone asked for my number?" I prompt, hoping to direct her away from the mortifying truth.
I do have a crush on her brother, and he only thinks of me as an accessory to Charlie. I have to get that through my head.
"Let me see if he's still here, I told him I'd speak to you before anything."
Her eyes sweep over the library but with each pass her shoulders drop, "He must've left, sorry Ivy."